October 8th, 1997 to October 14th, 1997

Chicago Whispers

A Very Personal Gay and Lesbian History

by Sukie de la Croix

My first gay pride parade ...
"I was afraid of being OUT out, because I did have a profession, and I didn't know what the hell that would do to it, and then one day I just thought, 'Well to hell with this, I am who I am and if they don't like it, it's too bad.' But at the time I had already achieved a certain amount of success in what I was doing, and I thought it was kind of hard for them to fire me for that. It was in the '70s, I first marched with Dignity, probably around '75 or so. Actually, I didn't march, because I'm lazy, but I rode. What the heck, I was in it ... (Laughs)." - Arlene Halko
My first gay bar ...
"It was called Hugo's, and that was in 1963. It was located at Wells & Armitage. It was a restaurant/bar type of situation. Very nice, very gay." - Jerry
"The Bistro, the original Bistro, on Kinsey and Dearborn, in 1973. It was the ultimate discotheque. On the weekends, the Bearded Lady was a major attraction. His real name was Robby, I don't remember his last name. He had a full beard, and he would show up looking very much like a bearded lady out of a carnival, with maybe a big Mamie Eisenhower hat, or a big feathered hat, and a dress or a sequined lame jump suit. His real aspiration, though, was to be an opera singer. He could really sing, but he lip synched." - David Honneger
More Bearded Lady ...
"I met him once. He was in from Japan, and it was Gay Parade, or Gay Pride, or something. He had supposedly found some niche and was doing some performances in Japan, and had been living there for an extended period. That was about '87 or '88." - Larry Burke
"The Bearded Lady used to perform at Duggan's dance bar, Duggan's Bistro. I remember she was a quote, unquote ... 'class act' ... I believe the Beach Boys were in town, or Jan and Dean, and she came out and sang 'Honolulu Lulu' ... it brought down the house ... (Laughs) ... maybe you had to see it." - Anonymous Gay Man
"The Bearded Lady was at the Bistro, which was a wonderful bar. Again, it was a part of that whole Near North Side bar scene. She was absolutely fantastic. I remember one time I was there, and she was wearing Lucite shoes with goldfish in the heels ... fantastic!" - Mark Palermo
"I got a good blow job. One of the best I ever had. I was a chicken. Who wouldn't know the Bearded Lady? You been on the Chicago bar scene, then you know the Bearded Lady." - Spider
Drag bar wars ...
"It was 1960, '61 or '62. At Clark and Diversey, north on Clark, there were two drag bars, Annex and Club Chesterfield. There was another bar, the Orange Cockatoo ... the big competitors were Annex and Club Chesterfield. They were doing a lot of business, these two bars ... anyway, their shows were on at different times, and when one would have a show, the other bar would go along and harass them. They would go back and forth harassing each other. The show competition was attracting a crowd, which the bars couldn't handle, and each had to open another bar next door, a totally separate bar, to handle the extra traffic." - Gene Janowski
Back in the Sixties ...
"There was a bar on the South Side, which was fabulous, it was called Jesters. It was a little tiny bar on 66th & South Western, which was owned by a lesbian couple and they played Polish music. I went there for a year and didn't know the bar tender was a boy." - Jerry
"The first lesbian bar I went to was Lost & Found. It was in the old location then, on Sacramento and Irving, a couple of blocks west of California. It was owned by Ava and Shirley, actually Shirley owned it and Ava was sort of tending bar. I don't think they had certified their romance at that time." - Arlene Halko
Caught in a raid ...
"Fortunately enough, no, but I had many friends that did. There was a raid at the Trip ... oh it had to be ... oh God! ... '73, '74. I had friends of mine, that were there, that were teachers ... one worked for the Chicago Sun-Times. Then I had a few other friends ... I can't recall what they did. Some lost their jobs, some ate their driver's license ... at that time they were paper ... they ate all their identification, so they wouldn't lose their jobs." - Jerry
" ... The old Loading Zone on Oak Street. The police came in and closed down the bar, a couple of days after Christmas, and this was for serving minors' liquor. I just remember they came in, we had to shut up, be quiet, had to line up against the wall ... the police frisked everybody, asked to see ID, and then one by one they let us out, after asking us all kinds of questions, about who we were and why we were there. That was in 1983." - Mark Palermo
Mountain Moving Coffeehouse ...
"My lover and I went to Mountain Moving House ... coffee house ... mountain ... lots of mountains ... (Laughs) ... we only went there once because they wouldn't let us smoke. It was not what we wanted. Not our place." -- Rut h Ketchum
"I may have gone there as early as '84, but it may have been '85, with my friend Susan. Oh it was fun! I think Susan saw her friend's mother there, and was very surprised ... (Laughs). Then they moved to a church in Rogers Park, and I think I was there once, for some kind of country & western thing. I won a cheap and ugly lamp, which I gave to my dissertation advisor who loves ugly, kitschy furniture ... (Laughs)." - Heather
Memory check: The Duggan's Bistro (420 N. Dearborn), The Annex (430 N. Clark), Lost & Found (2959 W. Irving), Club Chesterfield, Hugo's, the Orange Cockatoo, Jesters (Addresses Unknown), Loading Zone (46 E. Oak ).
If you have any stories to tell, write to Sukie de la Croix at Outlines.

What a Difference a Gay Makes

The Gay/Lesbian Movement, 5, 10, 15 & 20 Years Ago

by Sukie de la Croix

What was happening in the gay and lesbian movement 5, 10, 15, and 20 years ago this month?

Here's this week's Outlines overview to help you trigger the memories of yesteryear ...

Oct. 5-11

1992: 5 Years Ago
U.S.: A poll conducted by Overlooked Opinions Inc., shows that 92.2 percent of registered gays back Bill Clinton in the upcoming Presidential election. - Madonna's book Sex is selling out everywhere. - The NAMES Project Memorial Quilt is laid out in Washington, D.C. It has 20,064 panels, is 361,000 square feet, and weighs 30 tons. - In Los Angeles, Keith Meinhold, a Naval petty officer who was discharged after he came out on ABC's World News Tonight, files a lawsuit against the Navy. - South Africa: 3,500 people march in Johannesburg's third, and largest, gay/lesbian pride parade. - Denmark: Since Denmark legalized gay marriages in 1989, 1,301 couples have tied the knot, with 17 divorces. - New Zealand: Minister of Police, John Banks, publicly states: "We do not want transsexuals, bisexuals, and transvestites in the police." The following day a picture of Banks wearing a pink tutu is splashed all over the media. The photograph dates back to his appearance in a 1982 parliamentary pantomime.

1987: 10 Years Ago
U.S.: Two thousand gay and lesbian couples take part in a mass wedding on the steps of the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, D.C. - In the largest gay-rights demonstration ever, 500,000 people descend on Washington D.C. In her speech, Whoopi Goldberg, refers to Ronald Reagan as 'the fucking President.' - New Zealand: The Gay Task Force declines an invitation to host next year's International Lesbian and Gay Association conference, because of the continuing controversy over allegations that a predominantly white South African gay group collaborated with the apartheid regime to gain improved conditions for gays.

1982: 15 Years Ago
U.S.: A man is arrested in Salvation, a Miami gay bar, for exposing his buttocks. Richard Nunet was wearing chaps, boots, and a leather jock strap. Police reports indicate that his attire 'caused others to look' and that Nunet 'resisted arrest by causing the officer to struggle to handcuff him.' - Five guards at the Baton Rouge Parish Jail are fired, after allegedly encouraging and watching inmates engage in homosexual activity. - The nude body of an apparent suicide victim is found in the apartment of former U.S. Rep. Frederick W. Richmond, D-NY. A bottle of pills is found near the body of 21-year-old Gregory Bergeron, and a hand-written inscription on Bergeron's chest reads 'I Will Always Love U,' followed by the letters 'XOXOX' and the words 'Sin Angel.' - Italy: In Rimini, representatives of Amnesty International vote against a proposal that would have broadened their definition of the 'prisoner of conscience' to include persons imprisoned for committing homosexual acts. - Spain: In Barcelona, the murder of three gay men by the Guardia Civil results in the trial of three of its members. The murdered men were tied together in the back seat of a car, doused in gasoline, and then set on fire.

1977: 20 Years Ago
U.S.: Robert A. Martin, a former Navy Radioman 3rd Class, becomes the first reported gay person to receive a general discharge upgraded to an honorable one, as a reward for military service in the Vietnam War. Martin was discharged because of his 'unfitness due to homosexual acts.' The upgrading is part of the Carter Administration's program to improve discharges for several classes of veterans who served in Vietnam. - Netherlands: Amsterdam Mayor Wim Polak attends a fundraising event billed as The Miami Nightmare, which raises $40,000 to pay for an ad in Time magazine to protest Anita Bryant's 'Save Our Children' anti-gay crusade.

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